Mishawaka finishes off Clay in final event

January 11, 2006|BRUCE MARSHALL Tribune Staff Writer

MISHAWAKA -- The Mishawaka High School boys swim team saved its best for last Tuesday night. Down by five points going into the last event, the Caveman boys pulled off a one-three finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay to give them a 93-92 win over Clay. Meanwhile, the Clay girls put on quite a show in their first win of the season. They won 10 of the 12 events, including a sweep in the three relays, in beating Mishawaka, 107-77. In the boys meet, Quinn Shannon and Skyler Wanberg had big nights for the Cavemen (6-3 overall, 4-1 Northern Indiana Conference). Shannon had a first (100 backstroke) and a second (200 individual medley), in addition to helping Mishawaka to two second-place showings in the relays. Wanberg placed first in the 50 freestyle, and anchored two relays, including the all-important 400 free relay that won the meet for the Cavemen. Clay (2-5 overall, 2-3 NIC) finished first in eight of the 12 events, including two of the three relays. The real killer was Clay getting swept in the 50-yard freestyle. "If I just had a sprinter," lamented Clay coach Todd Tobolski. "The 50 free did us in. If we score there, the meet comes out different. "But we had some really good swims. Danny Morton dropped seven seconds (4: 55.74 in the 500 freestyle) off his best time. And he just set his best time last weekend at Bremen with a 5:02, which is 20 seconds under his previous best." Morton had quite a night with two individual first-place finishes (500 free and 100 backstroke). He also led two relays to wins, the 200 medley and the 200 freestyle. In the girls meet, Sarah Vandish won two events (200 free and 500 free) for Clay (1-8, 1-5) and helped the 200 medley and 200 free relay teams to first-place finishes. "I'm really pleased with the way the swimmers are progressing," said Clay coach Trasie Vitale. "We continue to drop times, and that's surprising this time of year." Caitlin Rafferty had another good night with a first in the 50 free, placing second in the 100 backstroke and leading off on two winning relay teams (200 medley and 200 free). Mishawaka senior Barbie Ford "really stepped up big for the team," according to Cavemen coach Jennifer Linarello. Ford placed first in the 100 butterfly, was second in the 200 free and swam strong legs on two second-place relays.